


the Day Remus Lupin Got His Letter

by PunkArsenic



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-25
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-04-06 03:58:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4207068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunkArsenic/pseuds/PunkArsenic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the Lupins never had visitors, certainly not unexpected ones.</p>
<p>cw for some misgendering and deadnaming</p>
            </blockquote>





	the Day Remus Lupin Got His Letter

Lyall and Hope Lupin spoke in a hushed combination of Romani, Welsh, Yiddish, and vague hand gestures upon the sofa in their small, cosy living room, while the child organised gobstones by size and colour at their feet.  
    Rarely did they speak before the child in ways only they could understand, (not that the child had anything but a firm grasp on all three spoken languages of the Lupin household) but in this situation they had both agreed to keep secrets was best; the youngest Lupin had been accepted into Hogwarts.  
   In any normal circumstance, this news would be nothing special, as inevitable as Wednesday following Tuesday - this was no normal circumstance.  
   Both Lupins knew that to send their child, with such an affliction, to a school with every young wizard in the British Isles would be both dangerous and foolish, and it was important that the child never even considered the possibility.  
   They froze as the door knocked thrice; they never had visitors, let alone unexpected ones. Lyall Lupin stood.  
   He peered through the hole in the door and his heart jumped into his heart when he spied none other than Albus Dumbledore peering back, "Hello there, Mr Lupin, may I take up just a small moment of your time?"  
    "I-I'm sorry, professor, but we've already decided - we're homeschooling the girl. I mean no disrespect to your teaching-"  
   "Oh, of course not, don't be silly. But I would like to talk to young Gwendolyn about the situation."  
  "Who is it, dear?" Hope Lupin peered into the hallway and Lyall mouthed to her 'Dumbledore!' She swore. Albus chuckled.  
  "And a good day to you too, mrs Lupin! I'd say it's lovely to see you," he frowned, "But I'm afraid I cannot, what with the limits of peepholes."  
   Hope pushed up beside her husband, squinting through the peephole, "He's teaching her himself! He can do it, he's a talented wizard, we've got lots of books! Gwen's fine!"  
   "I have no doubt you are capable of teaching your son magic, but I would like to talk to him either way."  
   The two Lupins exchanged horrified glances, 'son?'  
   "No no no! You can't come in. Our daughter is just fine, thank you very-" but Dumbledore had gone. Hope and Lyall stared at each other, utterly bewildered. Lyall sighed, "That bloke... is weird."  
   Noises found them from the living room, and their child laughed, and the blood drained from Hope's face.  
   They ran to the door, where they found the child clapping while Albus Dumbledore wiped gobstone juice from his glasses, muttering "I never was much good at this game."  
   "This is trespass!" Lyall yelled, drawing his wand, "Get away from our daughter!"  
  Dumbledore replaced his glasses, shaking his head and tutting,  
"Remus, do they really still think you're their daughter?"  
   "Remus?"  
   "Yes." Remus, the child, sighed, and frowned in a way that invokes an adult dealing with two troublesome youth, "They really do. Mum says it's all just a trauma thing,"  
   "Ridiculous!"  
   "I know. Dad says-"  
  "It's a side effect! Of her..." Lyall exchanged glances with his wife, "Affliction."  
   "Ah," Dumbledore reclined in the armchair he was perched, "The affliction."  
   "You- you know if it?"  
  "There are many things I know, Lyall. Like I know that your son Remus is lonely, and that you both love him deeply-"  
   "Even if they don't understand," Remus interjected,  
  "Indeed. I also know that Remus Lupin is a werewolf."  
  Hope whimpered, covering her mouth. Lyall approached Dumbledore, wand raised accusatively, "How do you know all this? Who told you?"  
   "All sources have been dealt with," Dumbledore turned to Remus, "Now, young man, how would you like to go to school?"  
   Remus looked up at him, "With other children?"  
  "Oh, many of them! And some of them will be your friends."  
   "I've never had friends..." Remus frowned at a gobstone, "I think that sounds like a very good thing indeed."  
  "Then it is decided," Dumbledore revealed a letter from his robes and handed it to Remus, "You will be depart from Kings Cross Station, platform 9 and three quarters, on September the first." Remus nodded, making a mental note of the information he was receiving, "And you may want a haircut."  
  "How dare you! How very dare you come in here and put these ideas into her head! How dare you even think of endangering an entire-"  
  "Oh, I did think of that. Of course I did. Remus will be well looked after; I have a situation sorted out, it will be far safer than he is used to, I assure you. Remus, you will need to stay very quiet about your affliction at Hogwarts, be very selective of who you tell,"  
  "Oh yes, I know. Whenever people begin to suspect anything, we have to move."  
  "Ah," Dumbledore folded his hands in his lap, "Wouldn't it be nice to stay put in this lovely house for more than a month or two. What do you think, Lyall?"  
  "I... I- I think-" he sat down, running his hands through his hair. He smiled at  
Dumbledore, tears pricking his eyes, "Thank you so much, professor. I can never-"  
  "You're considering this?" Hope yelled, "Putting those children - putting our daughter - in that-"  
   "Son!" Remus stood, scowling up at his parents, clutching the letter, "I'm your son. And I want to go. I need to. And I need a haircut, and wizard's robes." Tears welled in the boy's wide eyes as he stayed stock still and sombre, "I need them."  
   Dumbledore stood, patting Remus on the head, "I believe that does well and truly settle things." The Lupin parents stared down at their child, their son, as if the professor weren't there.  
   "Okay, Remus," sighed Hope Lupin, and she smiled wearily, and it was as if a miracle had happened, "Okay."  
  Remus smiled, if a little surprised, and looked around for Dumbledore to thank, but he had disappeared just as unnoticed as he had entered. He furrowed his brow as his parents began to talk, plainly and clearly now,  
  “So… Diagon Alley this saturday?” Hope said,  
  “I’ll look up a hairdresser,”  
  “Oh, no no, I can do that myself. I’ll have my… son… looking handsome for his first day of school,” she knelt down beside Remus, taking his hand, “Real school!” her cheeks rosied with excitement for the future of her son, which once so dingy now seemed to shine.


End file.
